must end. >> with america's role in negotiations stepping up the fighting, it's ragingon.israelpoundgag sa with round after round of air strikes today. at least 19 civilians were wounded in a bus bombing that took place in tel aviv. that blast happening as the bus was passing the defense ministry there. hamas leaders praised that bombing calling it a natural response to israeli massacres in gaza. in gaza, however, people took to the streets in celebration of that explosion in israel. the white house condemning the bus bombing, going on record saying that the u.s. will stand with its israeli allies. joining me from cairo, nbc news correspondent jim maceda. jim, explain to all of us the reaction to secretary clinton's visit to the region and the impact that her presence has brought to the negotiations for a cease-fire. >> reporter: first, the reaction has been one of anxiety, anticipation, and of deep hope that secretary of state hillary clinton can now broker or help to broke err deal. they certainly don't want war right next door. many are asking where america has been for these pas

mongs the people here. alsoinisraellivingunder the direct threat of rocket fire. >> and there is the concern of how egypt will react. what is the word there on how they are reacting? >> well, we already heard from egypt's president and the foreign minister. they have condemned the emergency meeting in the arab league to explore popular options. egypt says it will open the border with gaza to completely allow all wounded and injured and anybody else who wants to get out. we are getting initial reports that the prime minister may be leading a high delegation visit tomorrow. that would be unprecedented given the security situation here. >> a ayman, thank you so much. appreciate it. from the middle east to back home. let's take a look at what is happening this hour. the president will land in new york city within the next 30 minutes, where he will tour the damage done by superstorm sandy. he will be greeted by andrew cuomo and governor bloomberg. and there are two closed door meetings on the deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. one is taking place with th

factions firing rockets intosouthernisraelandisraeli airport systematically bombing gaza essentially nonstop over the last 24 hours. it peaks at night time. now that nightfall has set in gaza you can expect increase in aerial activity by the israeli air force as it begins to carry out the attack. the problem in the eyes of many palestinians here is that gaza is densely populated. you can't really separate the civilian population from where israel is trying to carry out these attacks. what we've seen is if you will a spike in the casualties among the palestinian civilian population. there was a child killed earlier today in an israeli air strike. a short while ago we heard palestinian factions firing rockets into southern israel. it is difficult to assess where they land but we do know they are firing them in that direction. and it really raises questions about the efficiency of the israeli operation if it was in fact able to deter the palestinian rocket fire as if set out to do. the big question now though is really about the imminent ground invasion and that is a concern everyone ha